LEGO Jurassic Park 76956 T. Rex Breakout – Nom Nom Time [Review]

With the next Jurassic World movie just around the corner, it’s no surprise that LEGO has decided to return to the popular franchise with a new wave of sets for Spring 2022. While most are tie-ins for Jurassic World DominionJurassic Park 76956 T. Rex Breakout harkens back to the movie that started it all. This 1212 piece set will be available April 17th from the LEGO Shop Online for US $99.99 | CAN $129.99 | UK £89.99. This diorama features a rampaging brick-built T-Rex, classic Jurassic Park tour vehicles, and four exclusive minifigures. But, like other “Adults Welcome” sets, is it all show and no play? Read on as we see just what this set has to offer!

The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.


Unboxing the parts, instructions and sticker sheet

This set comes in a large, tab-sealed box with Adult Collector style packaging. The diorama is shown to good advantage here, with a bright yellow “greeble strip” along the bottom edge to catch the eye. The age range is set to a mandated 18+, but as usual there’s nothing in the construction steps that a much younger builder couldn’t handle. This is just a ploy by marketing to make the set seem “adult oriented” I suppose. Personally, I think the larger graphic design speaks more to the mature collector angle than the tiny 18+ does. And, really, wouldn’t it make more sense to show a realistic age suggestion here so they could tap both demographic markets? I’ve heard from several parents that it’s frustrating that they have to guess if these sets are something they can share with their kids or not.

Since there really isn’t a backside to the diorama to showcase, the back of the box resorts to showing the front of the set from a slightly different angle. As usual there are a few inset shots along the bottom edge, showing the set’s dimensions (58.5cm/23″ by 15.5cm/6″), a movie still, and another close up shot of the diorama that does a fairly good job of matching the in-film picture.

On the bottom of  the box, there’s a small blurb noting that this is a “Ford Official Licensed Product”, along with the Universal and studio logos.

Inside the box are 11 numbered part bags spanning 9 building steps, an unnumbered bag containing a large baseplate and 22L ziplines, and a final bag containing the instruction manual and sticker sheet.

The perfect bound, 220 page instruction book is formatted to match the other Adult Collector sets.  The front has a large Jurassic Park logo, with no text or hints as to what set it relates to. I mean, sure, you can just open the book and find out what you’ll be building, but I still find these “life is like a box of chocolates” manual covers a bit irksome.

Inside, the first few pages are of introductory material talking about the film, and brief interviews with the LEGO designers who brought the set to life.

Once into the build itself, the instructions are packed with movie stills and little tongue-in-cheek factoids pointing out all the details the set designers were able to include. My favorite is the one explaining why the overturned Jeep only comes with three tires.

The sticker sheet is medium sized, with the decals mostly focused on adding details to the vehicles. There’s a lot of repetition, but I can understand wanting to keep costs lower by going with stickers over a bunch printed tiles that were forever locked behind licensing fees.


The parts

This set has some great new recolors to enjoy. Along with a new large 2×6 lime green tile and wheel arches, there are new medium nougat plates and brackets to expand your custom builds.  There are also new transparent-light-blue quarter circle tiles – a nice addition to the colors available there.

Dark red sees some new entries as well, including the trap-door base and 1×1 rounds with integrated bar. If you’re not a fan of the Speed Champions theme, this might be your first exposure to these interesting dual molded wheels with softer plastic for the tires and a more rigid hub.

The T-Rex has some new parts in dark orange  – ingots, modified plates, and corner tile. There are also new downward-oriented 1x1x2 bracket plates in tan.

A new transparent red “Minion Hair piece”  is an interesting recolor, which will be used in this set for a signal flare flame. The selection of printed tiles start off with some 2×2 round tiles with a hubcap pattern. There’s also a Jurassic Park/LEGO logo tile, and a “quote” tile similar to the ones seen in the recently announced Star Wars Dioramas.

Also appearing in a new yellow color are these minifigure accessory night vision googles. In the movie these were a wraparound-headband device, but here we get a dark green helmet to attach them to.


Tour Vehicle 5

The build starts out with one of the decorated Ford Explorers used as tour vehicles by the park. In the film, this car held Dr. Grant, Dr. Sattler, and Dr. Malcom, and was undamaged by the T-Rex’s assault.

The car’s design translates well to LEGO, with a fairly simple boxy body with plenty of SNOT connections.  Car 5 gets a small navigational map sticker next to the steering wheel.

Instead of opening doors, the sides of the vehicles are locked in place with large 2×6 lime tiles covered in stickers.

On the rear window ledge, there’s a connection point to store the brick-built, high-power flashlight.  The rear of the vehicle gets more stickers, including a license plate and a trunk decal with the Ford and Explorer XLT logos on it. (Explaining those legal blurbs on the box.)

The front of the Explorer is a studs-out affair with some transparent-clear 1×1 round plate for lights, and some black railing elements.  While the hood’s sticker is good match with the movie design, the lime green color doesn’t exactly match between print and plastic.  Behind the front windscreen are a couple of glasses of water – perfect for detecting the stompy approach of a giant dinosaur.

The final steps are adding the wheels and the removable roof. This design gives good access to the vehicle’s interior, and locks into place well once you have your minifigures in place.

The overall look is great – and this undamaged explorer is a great way to expand this set from “display” into “play”.  It’s easy to imagine the characters going off-road with this in a prequel or alternate timeline.


The T-Rex

While a major fan draw of the Jurassic Park LEGO sets are the large molded dinosaurs, the designers have gone with a brick-built approach for the T-Rex. While much smaller than the one in the 75936 T. Rex Rampage, it’s still a fun build. Constructions starts out with a sturdy core with click-hinge hips and Mixel ball joints for the arms. A layer of SNOT covers things nicely, with tan, dark orange, and reddish brown being the prominent colors. (It’s really time for LEGO to start releasing those ball joints in other shades – the light grey pieces really stand out in unfortunate ways in the final build.)

Rex’s tail makes use of more ball joints and SNOT, with curved slopes helping create a rounded shape.

The tail gets two more segments – one ball jointed, with the tip having a clip connection. There’s good side-to-side motion here, with the tail tip adding a bit of flair at the end.

Rex’s rear legs are suitably chunky, with a very sturdy click hinge built into the hips. The ankles are ball-jointed. The designers did a good job of hiding the majority of the light grey plate here, but it’s still visible from some angles.

The feet have three movable toes in front, and one toe off to the side. The clip construction here is a little fragile, and I had problems with the toes popping off when posing the Rex later on.

The Tyrannosaur’s adorable forelimbs are made from some 1×1 clips for hands, with a little extra articulation hidden in a modified 1×1 round plate that sits under a curved slope. The shoulders are Mixel ball joint plates in light grey – and unfortunately there just wasn’t a good way to hide that color usage here.

The head has some fun SNOT building, and is quite sturdy. The lower jaw has a darker pink tongue that has just enough contrast with the pink of the inner mouth to be visually distinct. They eyes are stickers, and are a little tricky. Be sure to look closely at the instructions and box art to make sure you’re aligning them the right way around.

Like Explorer 5, the T-Rex is a great stand-alone build. The dinosaur is recognizable, colorful, and a fun build.

I mean, just look a that big smile!

The dino can hold a number of free-standing poses, including a “tail up” chase look. Those click-hinge hips allow for more stability that you might first guess.


Diorama Backdrop

Next up is the diorama’s backdrop. As noted earlier, it’s really only meant to be seen from the front. Along the center of the base, the light grey rail used to guide the tour vehicles provides a bit of locking, but at this stage there was still a fait bit of curve from end to end. (Look at the first photo and it’s very evident.) That did improve as more layers of brick were added, but it never completely went away.

A detail that is really only clearly visible at this stage are the T Rex’s rain filled footprints. The new 1×1 quarter circle tile in transparent light blue really work well here.

The rear retaining wall goes together quickly.  Similar to the 21331 Sonic Green Hills Zone set, the backdrop relies a bit on elements that are attached with click hinges to support the vertical weight.  One detail easy to overlook in the completed build is the chain to hold the missing goat. Is this a subtle jab at the collectors who have been clamoring for a re-release of the infamous LEGO goat? Somehow, I think it came up in at least one design meeting.

From the rear, you can see that the foliage is really only meant to be front-facing. The click hinges do allow for a bit of added depth to the illusion, at the cost of making the set’s footprint a bit larger when displaying.

The broken electric fence is built from multiple 22L ziplines in flat silver. The natural curve you get from gravity does a great job of mimicking the mangled set. More stickers are used for the park’s warning signs. (A fun detail is that the fence warning shows a minifigure hand grabbing the live wire.)


Tour Vehicle 4 (Or what’s left of it)

The final assembly for this set is the remains of Tour Vehicle 4. In the film, this car is savaged by the T-Rex, and the LEGO version has suffered a similar fate.  It is built in three sections – with the front and rear ends inverted and attached to the main cabin via clips.

While you can assemble the car wheels down, you’ll be displaying it belly-up.


The finished model

All that’s left to do now is put everything together!  We start with Tour Vehicle 4, which slots nicely into the diorama’s base, held in place by the dark tan terrain.

Tour Vehicle 5 is braced by the edge of the display area and these medium nougat 1×2 cheese wedges in front.

The Jurassic Park/LEGO logos and quote plaque are centered between the two vehicles.

The T-Rex has two attachment points for her feet – one on the corner of the background’s base, and one on the top of Explorer 4.

Finally, you can add in the set’s complement of minifigures. Tim and Lex stand on two brown bricks which give them enough height to be seen from behind the car’s wreckage.

Alan, meanwhile, strikes a pose with his signal flare in front of Explorer 5. Ian can be seen looking on in a pretty good rendition of abject terror.

Swinging the camera around a bit, you can match those iconic movie moments.

Clearly not one of Ian’s better days.

The completed model is a very faithful reproduction of the movie moment. The T-Rex and Explorer 5 models hang over the base a bit, creating the effect that the action just doesn’t want to be contained. I’m just fine with that.


The minifigures

We saw the minifigures in action above, but now let’s take a closer look at them. All four characters are exclusive to this set, and all have unique printing.

Tim and Lex are covered in mud, with both an appropriate terrified expression, but also a bit of a smile for their second facial print. They’re light on accessories, but they can take turns wearing the night-vision helmet.

Both kids have short dark tan legs, one dark tan arm, and new dual-sided torso and head prints.

Alan and Ian both come with signal flares, allowing them to act out their moments from the scene. While they may just appear very sweaty here, remember the T-Rex attack happens in the rain.

Both Ian and Alan have unprinted legs, but new dual sided torso and head prints.

Alan can swap between his hat and hair – a nice added display option.


Conclusion and recommendation

LEGO seems to be leaning heavily into the idea of dioramas of famous movie moments. As an entry into that new theme, I think they’ve done an excellent job here. The choice to go with a brick-built dinosaur helped keep the part cost down, allowing for a very detailed display piece that still has a reasonable price tag. For $100 US, the 1212 pieces come in at just over 8 cents per – very good for a licensed set, and particularly good for a set with four exclusive figures. And, best of all, this isn’t just an Adult Collector “build it and then let it gather dust” collectible. The removable T-Rex and Explorer 5 vehicles let you stage your own adventures, or create your own displays. It’s a fun build with interesting techniques, at a good price, with great parts.  I’m happy to recommend this one to both Jurassic Park fans as well as the wider LEGO community. There’s something in this set for just about everyone. What more can you really ask for out of a set?


Jurassic Park 76956 T. Rex Breakout will be available April 17th from the LEGO Shop Online for US $99.99 | CAN $129.99 | UK £89.99. It may also be available via third-party sellers on Amazon and eBay.

The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.


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6 comments on “LEGO Jurassic Park 76956 T. Rex Breakout – Nom Nom Time [Review]

  1. Johnny Johnson

    How possible is it to seat two minifigs side-by-side in that car? Or even put four in one (Presumably the kids won’t fit, without bending legs)? A picture of how awkward (Or not) that is to achieve would be appreciated.

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